In talks with the state government for 200 acres of land.
Infosys Technologies, the country’s second-largest information technology (IT) services exporter, has approached the Tamil Nadu government for 200 acres of land near Chennai for setting up a development centre, according to a senior state government official. The Bangalore-based company confirmed talks with the state government representatives, but refused to comment further.
The official said Kris Gopalakrishnan, chief executive officer and managing director of Infosys Technologies, met Deputy Chief Minister M K Stalin on Monday discussed on the company’s future expansion in the state.
“The deputy chief minister said he would extend all support, and we are in lookout for land in four locations in and around Chennai,” said the official on condition of anonymity. Stalin also holds the industry portfolio.
Meanwhile, Gopalakrishnan told Business Standard he met Stalin on Monday as the chairman of Confederation of Indian Industry- Southern Region, where he talked about Infosys’ expansion plans in the city.
Without elaborating on whether he asked for 200 acres of land in the city, he said, “At some point, we may have to grow our capacity in Chennai. We did discuss on Infosys’ expansion plan.”
He said the capacities of Infosys’ two development centres in Chennai were almost full. Infosys employs over 12,000 people in these centres.
The company has 59 global development centres, of which 28 are in India and 31 outside India. It also planned to set up centres in Brazil, Russia, Mexico, Turkey, Africa and the Middle East, said Gopalakrishnan, while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of CII’s annual press meet in Chennai.
He said, “We will increase foreign nationals headcounts to 15 per cent from the current five per cent.” However, he declined to give any time frame for the proposed increase.
One of the main reasons, according to Gopalakrishnan, for local hiring is language. He said since they were planning to set up development centres in countries like China, Brazil and Mexico to serve customers, they must have local people.
In Bangalore, the company’s main centre, where its global headquarters is located, is on an area of 80 acres. The centre houses over 18,000 people. Since this is already brimming to its capacity, Infosys on its own had acquired over 300 acres of land near Sarjapur Road, on the outskirts of Bangalore, for setting up its second development centre in the city. The Karnataka government recently allotted another 40 acres of land in Devanahalli Industrial Area, near the Bangalore International Airport. At the recent global investors meet organised by the Karnataka government, Infosys proposed it would invest close to Rs 3,000 crore for setting up centres in these two places.
Other than Bangalore and Chennai, the company has large delivery centres in Pune and Hyderabad. In Pune, the company has two campuses, spread over 139 acres, and houses more than 16,000 people. The company is also building a campus at Pocharam in Hyderabad over 447 acres. The existing campus at Gachibowli in Hyderabad, spread over 50 acres, houses over 11,000 employees.
